


As it Should Have Been

by Bondo2123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24857185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bondo2123/pseuds/Bondo2123
Summary: Instead of handing Harry over to Hagrid, Sirius decides to tell Hagrid that Lily and James are still safe. When they discover tracking and compulsion charms they don't know who to trust or who to turn to. It is only a matter of time before someone finds out that Harry is staying with Remus and Sirius and not his parents. But the question is will they keep the secret?
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

-Chapter 1-

Sirius arrived at Godric's Hollow, mere seconds after Voldemort casts his last killing curse for many years. As he landed he felt an unnaturally cold breeze rush past him as he broke into a run up the street. He skidded to a stop outside a house that mere moments ago had a happy family in hiding. Now there was a poor orphan who had seen his mother be murdered before the wand that did it turned to him. There was also a man, hunched over a pile of robes fishing out a wand and a dagger before he heard the stairs creak. 

"I know you're in there Wormtail," came the voice of an auror who had a very personal interest in this case. He had, Afterall just stepped over the dead body of his best friend and honorary brother. "I could smell vermin like you from miles away."

Wormtail Froze. The footsteps approached the doorway. He looked around, Panicked, searching for an escape route. Just as the door sprang open, he launched himself out of the hole in the wall and transformed. 

"WORMTAIL" Sirius screeched, running to the opening and sending several spells and curses towards the disapperating rat. He was about to follow when he heard the small voice in the cot beside him. 

"Uncee Paddy," said baby Harry, looking as if his whole world had just been turned upside down, tears brimming in his eyes.

Sirius took one last look at the darkening garden and turned his back on it. After all, he couldn’t leave a baby who had no one left. He didn’t even stop for a second to think about what he was doing he bent down and scooped up little Harry. He could tell that while Harry was still alive, he was now sporting a new scar on his forehead. 

Sirius walked slowly down to the sitting room, cradling an injured Pronglet, trying to work out what to do. He started by trying to distinguish the facts from the suspicions that he had been holding onto for the last few months. He instantly realized that the friend that he thought was a traitor was not. He needed to find moony and apologize, and quickly. Dumbledore would have some way of knowing what had happened and would be sending someone to see how bad the damage was. Dumbledore. He had suggested that Moony was the Traitor. The bastard. Trying to sow discourse between the friends. He had to keep the house to himself for now. Before someone with other plans took over. 

He conjured his Patronus and sent it to Moony explaining everything; “Moony, I’m sorry, it’s happened, the little one is alive. Meet me in St Mungo’s. Something Fishy going on, tell No-one.” 

Before Sirius stalked out of the house he took one last look at his two best friends, who were now under a stasis charm, and casting a new Fidelius Charm on the house, this time though he wouldn’t make the same mistake of allowing anyone else to be the Secret Keeper. 

Outside the house, he saw a rather disgruntled looking Hagrid walking away down the street, confused and angry Sirius quickly cast disillusionment and silencing charms on Harry before stepping out into the street. 

“Hagrid” he called, causing the big man to look around, startled. 

“Sirius, Thank Merlin you’re here, I can’t seem to remember where Lily and James were living.”

“And why do you want to know that?” inquired Sirius.

“Well, Perfesser Dumblydore sent me to fetch Harry after he learnt of the attack.” 

“And when did he tell you to do this?” 

“’bout two hours ago”

Sirius swore. He knew that Dumbledore liked to keep secrets but this, this was a step too far. James and Lily could still be alive if he had decided to warn them before he sent Hagrid halfway around the country. Also, how did he know Harry was still alive. Sirius was suddenly very glad that he had asked Moony not to tell anyone. 

“Well, you can tell him that we had found out about the vermin in the Order and they moved to be rid of him,” Sirius retorted, accidentally allowing his temper to blow up. 

Hagrid wasn’t quite sure what to make of this but he understood that Sirius meant business, so he didn’t argue. As Hagrid turned away to return to Hogwarts, Sirius stopped him. 

“Hagrid, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m sorry.”

“Tis grand, don’ thin’ of I’”

“Listen, do you want to take my bike, I won’t need it anymore”

“If yer sure”

“course I am” 

And with that Sirius apparated to the entrance hall of St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. As soon as he arrived, a very stressed looking Remus Lupin hurried up to him and accosted him. 

“Well? Are they gone Padfoot? And Where’s Harry, you said that he was alive? And what’s wrong with your arm, why are you holding it like that?”

Sirius reached into his robes and drew his wand “Finite Incantatum” he whispered as the illusion shattered and Harry was revealed to be in his arms. 

Remus looked relieved more than anything, but instantly another fifty questions exploded in his mind “How about James? Lily? Wormtail? Did you fight them off? Are they gone? What took you so long to get here?”

Sirius put a finger to his lips and said “Not here Remus, not here” 

Remus nodded dumbly but mostly he was shocked by the fact that Padfoot had called him Remus. He hadn’t called him by his given name in over 6 years. It demonstrated to Remus the total Gravity of the situation more than any other words could have. 

“Uncee Mooey!” Harry cooed in delight as he caught sight of his other uncle. 

“Hey Pronglet, how you doing?” Remus asked gently tousling the young boy's hair. That was when he caught sight of the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. His eyes rose to meet Sirius’ and he raised his eyebrows. All it took was one small nod from Sirius to confirm his suspicions while also setting off multiple alarm bells and pushed him over the edge into panic mode. 

“Sirius, we need to get that examined.”

“Why d’you think I am here Moony?” quipped Sirius, unable to help himself, “For the tearooms?”

Remus decided that that deserved a slap on the arm and an eye roll before he guided Sirius over to the long queue of people waiting to check themselves into the Emergency Room. Sirius walked straight to the front of the queue leaned over the desk to the manager, while withdrawing his Auror identification and asked for a private room for spell damage, details could be sorted there. 

While the manager was not inclined to agree to demands easily, he also recognised that this man was not only an Auror but also the heir to an Ancient and Noble house. That was why he led the two men up the flights of stairs to a small room at the end of the spell damage floor. 

“Now, what seems to be the issue and I can send in the Appropriate Healers,” asked the Manager somewhat impatiently. 

“We are going to need a full diagnostic as well as deep scan and an MMOC (Mind Magics Observance Charm) for little Harry here. We should also do a deep scan and MMOC for myself and Remus,” replied Sirius unsure whether his demands would be met or resisted. 

“Very well, let me see what I can do,” said the manager, slightly perturbed by so many requests. 

After a few minutes, he returned bringing three Healers with him. “Are you all ready to begin?”

“Yep, it might be wise to call an unspeakable as well. Something isn’t quite right with Harry”

“Padfoot, what’s going on?” asked Remus, suddenly scared that something worse than he had expected had happened. 

“Scans first, talk later Remus”

“Very well, Sirius” 

They both submitted themselves to a Healer who began to cast detection spells and run scans of their health. 

It took about an hour for the healers to complete their scans and return with the results. During this time an unspeakable had arrived, cast a single spell before leaving to fetch his colleague. While they waited for him to return the Healers finished up and passed over their results to Sirius who read them aloud: 

Remus John Lupin 

21 years old  
Suffers from Lycanthropy  
Minor cuts and bruising about 18 days old  
Several ribs not properly healed  
Mild Compulsion Charm with a magical signature matching Albus Dumbledore  
Several patchy bits of Memory, suspected Obliviations, more investigation required to confirm.  
Tracking Charm, magical signature matching Albus Dumbledore 

Sirius Orion Black 

21 years old  
Lingering effects of Cruciatus exposure  
Severe emotional and mental trauma recently received.  
Mild Compulsion charm with a magical signature matching Albus Dumbledore  
Multiple parts of patchy memory, suspected Obliviations, more investigation required to confirm  
One definite obliviation, magical signature matching Albus Dumbledore  
Mild aversion charms towards Severus Snape  
Tracking Charm, magical signature matching Albus Dumbledore 

Harry James Potter 

1 year old  
Scar on forehead  
Severe emotional trauma  
Magical Exhaustion  
Hungry  
Significant unknown Dark magic emanating from the new scar on his forehead requires significantly more investigation through the Dept of Mysteries; Contact: Unspeakable Ree

“Merlin,” gasped Remus. 

“Yup,” said Sirius. 

“What now?”

“Well, we need to find somewhere to kip for a while before we try to work out how far these charms have gotten”

Once they had gotten the Charms removed, they left the Hospital and apparated to Potter Hall, where Sirius had been living with James before they went into hiding. Remus was about to ask if it was later yet when Sirius answered his question. 

“Let’s get Harry asleep first and then we can talk”

A while later, Remus and Sirius were sitting in the sitting room with tears running down their faces as they fully began to process the fact that they had not only lost three of their friends today but also the trust of their former headmaster. 

“Where do we go from here then?” 

Sirius summoned a blackboard and started writing under the headings; Trusted people, People to check and People to confront. Currently there was only himself and Remus in the Trusted People section, but they hoped that would change soon. 

Under the People to check column was Frank and Alice, Mad-Eye, Minnie and Poppy. They needed to confront Dumbledore as well as Pettigrew.

They decided that Minnie and Poppy were the first people they needed to talk to so that they could organize the rest of the diagnostics for the order. Patronuses were sent and within ten minutes they Minnie and Poppy stepped in the front door. 

“Sirius are you alright?” asked Minerva, she had been his /Head of House for seven years before fighting alongside him for the last three years. 

“No not really,” said Sirius, “come on in” 

Poppy caught sight of Remus in the sitting room, cradling Harry who was just beginning to stir after several hours asleep. Both of their guests could feel the tension in the air as Sirius explained what had happened. 

They were shocked and sad, but they grew angry at Professor Dumbledore when they heard of his chance to save the Potters but instead, he assumed they were already dead. Minerva’s lips grew white with Fury as Remus explained their trip to the Hospital and the compulsion and Memory charms that were discovered. 

When Remus offered to check them for these charms, they discovered both had various charms currently battling for dominance. 

“Perhaps I should get Filius to come and see if he can remove them from us?”

“Can we be sure we can trust him?”

“He’s not a Death Eater if that’s what you mean,” Poppy retorted. 

“Of Course not, do you want to Floo him?” suggested Remus. 

A/N: Thanks for reading!

I am planning on updating this about once a week. Please let me know what you think and how I can fix it.


	2. In Friends We Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of handing Harry over to Hagrid, Sirius decides to tell Hagrid that Lily and James are still safe. When they discover tracking and Compulsion charms they don't know who to trust or who to turn to. It is only a matter of time before someone finds out that Harry is staying with Remus and Sirius and not his parents. But the question is will they keep the secret? - CHAPTER 2

-Chapter 2-  
In Friends We Trust

It was later that night, as Sirius and Remus were stretched out on the couch, which had been magically enlarged when Sirius suddenly sat bolt upright and almost knocked Harry onto the floor. “Meli” he gasped. 

“What?” asked Remus sleepily 

“Amelia, you idiot.”

“Who?”

“Amelia Bones”

“Yeah, what about her?”

“Oh Merlin, I never told you, we got together last summer, just before they went after Edgar and his family” 

“Wait, the prefect?”

“Senior Auror, actually”

“So, still your superior?”

Sirius just threw a cushion at him before checking the time. It was 5 am. As Sirius stumbled into the bathroom, he sent Amelia a Patronus. “Amelia, it went down last night, come   
to Potter Hall as soon as possible.”

It didn’t take long before Potter Hall was bustling with activity once again. Remus was attempting to feed Harry, but he just kept screaming that he wanted his “FeeFee.” Minerva had arrived back with Filius and Poppy to plan what to do about the Hogwarts Staff and Students when Amelia arrived through the front door looking rather panicked. 

It took several cups of tea laced with a calming draught before they could tell her what had happened. All things considered, she took it remarkably well. There were no real tears, just relief that it was all over. She knew she should be mourning James and Lily, but she couldn’t help letting the relief wash over her from the knowledge that her family, well, what was left of it, was safe from the terrorists that had ruled her life from the day she had graduated. 

By this point it was 7 am and time for many of those at the meeting to return home to get ready for work or to return to Hogwarts. There was a quick rush to the floo before Remus and Sirius were alone with Harry once more. 

“What the hell is Fee-Fee, Sirius?”

“FeeFee,” Sirius murmured, lost in a memory, “FeeFee is Harry’s stuffed Phoenix. I think it is still in Godric’s Hollow.”

“We should go there and see what needs to be done.”

“Harry is not going back, he doesn’t need…” Sirius paused, his voice catching, “He doesn’t need to see… to see them”

There was a morbid silence before Remus managed to formulate a response. For the first time, it really hit home that James and Lily were gone. He had almost expected them to turn up on the front step to collect Harry, making jokes about how calamitous the babysitting must have been. “Pads, you can’t go alone.”

“I know Moony, I know”

“Why don’t we leave Harry with Frank and Alice once we’ve checked them out?”

Sirius still seemed unsure, not willing to let someone else care for the bundle of life that lay against his chest breathing softly, oblivious to the discussion going on around him.   
“Pads, look at me, Frank and Alice are under the same protection as Prongs and Lils were, they have a little boy the same age as Harry, they are both aurors, they can hold their own in a fight. Merlin, Alice is even Harry’s godmother, he’ll be safe there while we contact the order and the aurors.”

“Moony, have you ever considered not being so bloody right all of the time?”

“Will I send a patronus to Frank then?”

“Yeah, go for i-.” Sirius paused contemplating something “No, send it to Alice, she is less suspicious of everything.”

“She wasn’t trained by Mad-Eye you mean?”

“Maybe.”

It didn’t take long for Alice to reply, telling them to meet Frank outside the muggle town of Cokeworth in 20 minutes. 

And so, it was that at half-past seven on a Sunday morning that two men and a baby were pulled into an Alley and had a wand drawn at them. “How was the last order meeting with both of us there opened?”

“Mad-Eye complained about the stairs up to Dumbledore’s office and then Dumbledore asked gave us his projections for when the ministry will fall,” Remus answered deftly. 

“Remus, Sirius, it is so good to see you,” Frank said letting his wand drop to his side. “what is it you wanted to talk about? And why is Harry with you?” 

Remus reached out and put his hand on Frank’s arm before he could ask any more questions. “Frank, we need to tell you and Alice some very important things and then leave Harry with you for the day. I know it sounds weird, but please, just trust us.”

Frank narrowed his eyes, squinting at the pair of them, he even considered using a small amount of legilimency to ensure his family would be safe, but he decided that there was a less obtrusive way to make sure they weren’t going to do any harm. “Will you make an unbreakable vow not to do any harm to Neville or Alice?”

“Absolutely. Although let’s word it carefully, because we don’t exactly have good news for you both,” Sirius said without a second’s hesitation. 

“Very well, we live at 32 Quakers Quay, Cokeworth,” Frank said, and then apparated away before they could ask any questions. He never was going to make them swear an unbreakable vow, it was, in his opinion, a complete waste of time. If someone was willing to make the vow it was good enough for him. They didn’t need members of the order dropping dead because they had said something that offended Alice or dropped something on Neville’s toe. Accidents happen after all and the meeting with Sirius and Remus was disconcerting, to say the least, the fact that Harry was out from behind the fidelius was worrying. It made sense they wanted to be behind a new one. 

As he had left the marauders spun on their heel and disapparated to the garden gate of 32 Quakers Quay. It was a small house with a small garden and what looked like an attic room if Remus was correct. Remus opened the gate and strode through and up to the door, he knocked. His hand curled around the handle of his wand as the footsteps could be heard racing to the door. Alice’s face peeked around the door as it opened a crack. 

“Remus, Sirius, how are you?” she exclaimed, “and my oh my, is that Harry Potter? Now, young man what on earth are you doing out of the house unsupervised?” while she was saying this she was taking Harry out of Sirius’ arms and into her own, ushering them into the house where Frank was already seated in the sitting room with Neville in his Lap. “In we go, you two, Harry and I will make some tea and join you in a minute, no need to give us bad news without a mug of tea in your hand.”

Sirius and Remus took seats on the sofa opposite Frank and Neville. Frank didn’t look up until Remus asked him about the Vow. He simply nodded that it was an intimidation tactic and went back to looking after Neville. They didn’t say another word until Alice arrived back, levitating the tea into the room. 

“So, what has happened?” she asked tentatively.

“They’re gone,” Sirius said, his voice slightly hoarse, “Voldemort attacked their house last night, I found out Peter, their Secret Keeper wasn’t where he was supposed to be, so I went to Godric’s Hollow and arrived just too late. Peter was standing over a pile of robes when I entered the House, He transformed and got away before I could stun him. Harry was the only person to leave that house alive.”

“James? Lils?” Alice asked shocked. Her tears that had been welling up through Sirius’ story burst out at Sirius’ grim nod. 

Remus was quick to pick up on Frank’s quizzical look, he knew what was going through his mind; “the only person to leave alive.”

Remus took over from Sirius as he struggled to regain control of his voice. All it took for Remus was a glance at Harry and Neville sitting on the rug in front of the hearth to know that life would go on, that life must go on. 

“Now, hard as it is to believe, that isn’t the worst news that we have for you, but before that, we have some good news. When Sirius says that Harry was the only person to leave alive, he meant it. Voldemort didn’t make it out of the house. But there was no body. The current theory is that somehow when the killing curse hit Harry on the forehead, it rebounded and hit Voldemort. That is the explanation the Healers had for us. But there wasn’t a body, so we have no way of knowing for sure.” 

The Longbottoms really were the best audience they had had so far; they gasped in all the right places and asked all the right questions.  
Sirius had finally managed to take control again and he delivered the final blow. “As I walked down the street with harry disillusioned in case there were Death Eaters nearby, I saw Hagrid. He had been told 2 hours before by Dumbledore that there had been an attack on the Potters, and he needed to go and pick up Harry to bring him to his muggle relatives.”

“NO”

“HE LET THEM DIE,” bellowed Frank.

“Not only that but when we went to get Harry checked in St. Mungo’s they also did scans on us and discovered Compulsion, Tracking and Aversion charms placed on us by Albus and we even found potential evidence surrounding obliviations,” Remus relayed to the two stunned aurors, his voice just above a whisper, he was suddenly feeling very dangerous, the wolf in him wasn’t happy the man who had allowed harm to come to his pack was still roaming free. 

Sirius could sense the anger radiating off of his oldest friend and placed a hand on his arm before continuing, “We came here for two reasons, Firstly, we would like to check you for any spells, curses or charms you might be placed under. And secondly, we were wondering if you would mind looking after Harry for today, we need to return to Godric’s Hollow and then continue the rounds, building a case against Dumbledore, trying to see just how far his charms are going.”

It was a very short 15 minutes later when the marauders found themselves back out on the front step, having said goodbye to Harry and Neville, with invitations to return for dinner to report in on their day’s activities. They apparated to Godric’s Hollow and Sirius whispered to Remus, “they lived in number 14.” Remus was about to retort when he realised that he actually had not known where he was going. He remembered being there, but not how to get there.

“I put a new fidelius on it before I left, a stasis too,” Sirius offered in explanation. They set off, down the row of houses until they reached number 14. Remus took in a sharp breath as he took in the sight of the gate, hanging off its hinges. Sirius reached out and pushed open the gate. Dragging his feet, he proceeded up the pathway with Remus following in his wake. He reached out to Remus as he reached the door and placed his arm around Remus’ shoulders, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to see. His mind filling with the pictures that had disturbed his sleep last night. 

He pushed the door open, and stepped through the door, supporting Remus as he caught sight of the foot in the doorway to the Sitting room. Remus stepped away from Sirius and through the doorway in front of him. James was sitting there, slumped against the open door into the sitting room. Remus couldn’t stand, the grief overwhelming him. He turned unable to see it anymore as his vision swam, he staggered to an armchair and sank into it, turning away from his fallen friend. He didn’t notice Sirius enlarge the armchair and sink into it beside him. Although he didn’t have tears streaming down his face as Remus did. Remus could tell he was hurting. It was this hurt that made Remus eventually stop crying and look at Sirius. Sirius, the man who had learnt that crying in public resulted in a beating from a young age. Sirius, the man who was still at war with his emotions despite having been here last night and knowing what to expect. Sirius, who had thrown out every instinct and stayed to look after Harry rather than going after the Rat.   
They shared a deep look before Remus stood up, pulling Sirius with him, and into a big hug. They stood like that for several minutes. Just appreciating the other’s comfort and sharing their presence. Finally, it was Sirius who broke the hug, pulling back and looking Remus in the eye as he said; “Let’s do this shall we?”

Remus nodded and looked around. “I’ll get Lily, you get James?”

“Their bedroom?”

“It’ll have to do for now.”

As one they stepped away and went to one of their best friends. Remus walked upstairs and stopped short of the nursery. He took a deep breath before entering the room. A shiver went down his spine. There was a massive hole in the wall, looking out into the back garden that Lily had taken such pride in since they moved in. 

And then he saw her. Lying in front of the cot, beside a pile of robes, clearly trying to block Harry from being struck by a curse. 

Lily had died protecting Harry, and, in that moment, Remus knew that he now had one responsibility that eclipsed all others. He had to care for Harry. As his Nephew, as his Cub and as his Son. 

Remus flicked his wand and Lily was floating back out towards the door. Her hands crossed on her chest. He followed the corpse of his friend out and to her bed. While not the resting place that he would have wanted for Lily he knew that, at the moment they had no choice. She would have to remain here, under the stasis that Sirius had cast until they had told the world what had happened. Sirius wandered in, with James floating, in the same manner, in front of him. Sirius took one glance at Lily and grunted, “Other side.”

“How do you know?”

“I – I just do, I can’t explain it, really,” Sirius said, suddenly realizing how much he had missed Remus over the last few months. “Well, I mean I can, but not now, not here. We have a lot to catch up on.” 

Remus moved Lily and Sirius placed James down beside his wife. They both moved back to the door and looked back at the lifeless forms of their friends. Knowing that they would never talk again, they would never laugh again, they would never play a prank again. It drove home to both of them just what they were going to miss about each of their friends.   
They closed the door and walked slowly back down to the sitting room where they collapsed into a couch and began to discuss what else they had to do today. It was decided that, once they had collected a few of Harry’s things that Remus would bring them to Frank and Alice’s House in Cokeworth before making contact with other members of the Order. Meanwhile, Sirius would go into work and explain to the Senior Aurors and anyone part of the order what had happened. 

Remus arrived back with Frank and Alice with a box of Harry’s toys, they had decided that if necessary, he could borrow some of Neville’s clothes. He left almost as soon as he had arrived, apparating to the front door of the Prewitt twins’ apartment across from Kings Cross. It was Fabian that answered the door and asked the agreed-upon question “How did the last Order meeting we were both at start?”

Remus gave the agreed-upon answer: “Mad-Eye complained about the stairs, and Minerva told him to Floo next time”

Fabian welcomed him in and yelled to Gideon to tell him who had arrived. Both were happy to see him, they had taken the marauders’ under their wing when they had joined the order and all four had looked up to the two older men, they had led them on their first missions and sat with them when Sirius had been captured. They were the older brothers that Remus had never had. That was why Remus had gone to them first, they were the people he wanted by his side when he told the others. And, as expected, they asked why Dumbledore wasn’t sharing this information with them. They were shocked that he had allowed two of their own to die. After discovering the Compulsion and Tracking charms on them they were more than ready to march into Hogwarts and hex Dumbledore into submission. 

It took another cup of tea all-around before they could calmly agree to help Remus inform the rest of the Order. Through the rest of the day, Remus, Fabian and Gideon went around to the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. By the end of the day, they had convinced most of the Order that Dumbledore couldn’t be trusted and had their input on their plans to discover how deep the corruption had gone. Both Sturgis and Hestia had agreed that it would be best if someone didn’t go to the confrontation with Dumbledore for fear that he would attempt to covertly add more compulsion charms or obliviate anyone that came to discuss something with him. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been called in for a Department-wide meeting on a Sunday by Crouch, despite the insistence of all of his senior Aurors and Sirius that it could wait until tomorrow morning. Crouch However was not one to take advice from anyone. He would interfere in cases, explain why people were doing everything wrong in front of the whole office and then tell people to be more ruthless. He wanted everyone to be more ruthless, if people managed to bring suspects in without harming them, he would suspect them of working for the other side, rather than simply being good at their job. 

At the meeting, Sirius presented memories of his experience last night at both St Mungo’s and Godric’s Hollow. Moody then explained their course of action, it was one that the DMLE hadn’t seen for quite some time. They were used to apparating or portkeying in and taking their suspect into custody by overwhelming them with force. It was this strategy that had led to Crouch authorising the use of unforgivables by aurors earlier that year. But here they were going to start by checking each of the aurors for charms and curses before waiting it out and then being very visible when the news broke the next day. 

Sirius had agreed that the senior aurors should be at the meeting with Dumbledore on the condition that he was discussing the issue and they were just there for support. He was planning to have about twenty people in the room who were expert dark wizard catchers just to prove to Dumbledore that charming and cursing people so they could finally ensure that he got what was coming to him. It turned out that about a third of the auror force had had compulsion charms placed on them by Dumbledore, most of them had been taken around the time that they were leaving school to join the aurors. 

Remus had returned to Cokeworth in the late afternoon, with Fabian and Gideon, who were welcomed into the Longbottom’s home and told that they would be staying for dinner. They both joked that Alice reminded them of their big sister Molly, who couldn’t stand to see anyone leave the Burrow without a three-course meal. Remus then suggested that they asked Sirius to bring Amelia as well, apparently only Fabian and Gideon had known that they were together, this made him feel slightly better about being kept in the dark. Remus privately thought that they would be seeing a lot more of Amelia in the coming weeks, he had no idea just how wrong he could be. 

After the boys had been put to bed, the adults returned to the living room to discuss their plans for tomorrow. The Longbottom’s were keen to move back to Longbottom Manor with Frank’s Mother and the Prewitt’s couldn’t wait to see their newest nephew. They had planned the news to break in a Special Edition of the Evening Prophet the next day. Moody had suggested they call an Order meeting for two hours after the prophet is published and an Auror one to discuss the response once most people are back in their homes.   
Before the news broke, however, Remus and Sirius had a trip to the DOM, the Daily Prophet Headquarters and Hogwarts. But before any of that, they had planned a breakfast with their former Head of House so that they knew what they were walking into before they got there. 

A/N: Thanks for Reading!


	3. Life and Lies

-Chapter 3-  
Life and Lies 

The next morning saw Sirius, Remus and Harry entertaining Minerva McGonagall with stories of how each member of the Order reacted to the disastrous end to the war that had plagued them for so long over breakfast. Minerva told them that she had a staff meeting scheduled for just after Dumbledore had been informed of the end of the war. She had already told her fellow heads of Houses and discovered a variety of compulsion and loyalty charms on both Professors Flitwick and Sprout. While the loyalty charms were tied to their houses (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff), the compulsion charms had been keyed to Dumbledore. Meanwhile, it had been discovered that, as well as loyalty to Slytherin and Dumbledore, Snape had aversion charms for all four marauders and towards Lily, although that one had been placed much later. They hadn’t managed to pinpoint exactly when it was placed but apparently Snape had some suspicions.   
Minerva also told them about how far she had to go to stop Snape marching up to Dumbledore’s Office and hexing him into oblivion. Nor did the grief that overwhelmed him when he heard of Lily’s ultimate sacrifice go untold. Minerva swore that it was the first time in her ten years of knowing him that she had seen him express any type of emotion. She made sure to impress upon Sirius and Remus that perhaps there was more to their schoolchild nemesis than met the eye and they should attempt to see the real Snape.   
“Well, I suppose that I had better return to Hogwarts before anyone notices that I have escaped,” Minerva said innocently.  
“Yes, we should be heading to the Ministry for that appointment as well,” Remus added with a significant look towards Sirius. They had decided not to tell everyone about the involvement of the Unspeakables just yet, at least not until they knew what the problems were.   
Sirius nodded “I think our Harry might need a nappy change first though.” It had only been one day but already Sirius and Remus were more than willing to do absolutely anything to ensure the young boy’s safety. They were now the parents that had not yet been buried. Remus had been worried that they had grown attached to him to quickly, that they had replaced James and Lily or that they hadn’t spent enough time grieving for their fallen friends.   
All that Sirius needed to be sure that James and Lily wouldn’t have wanted anything else was to see Remus standing guard over Harry’s makeshift crib in the sitting room as he fell asleep. “Remus,” he said, softly, with an edge to his voice that made Remus look up, concerned, “Look down, what is it you see?”  
“Harry”  
“Remus, tell me not who you see, but what you see”  
“Sirius I really don’t think that –,”  
“Remus, just do it, I will tell you what I see afterwards”  
Remus lifted his eyes so that they had made contact with Sirius’ before dropping once more to the bundle of blankets in front of him.   
“I see, a bundle of blankets with Cushions and Pillows supporting my cub,” he had said it before he had even realised what it meant.  
Sirius walked around the ‘Crib’ and led Remus to the couch. “Now, Remus, tell me, if we had been here a few days ago, babysitting, with James and Lily still alive would your answer have changed.”   
That was when it hit Remus. His relationship with Harry hadn’t changed. Harry was still his cub and if anyone decided that wasn’t to be, they would have to face the full force of a werewolf who had had their young stolen. He wouldn’t care if he bit them, they would deserve it if they thought that he would just sit by and allow it to happen.  
Remus had to duck back into the kitchen to get something before they flooed to the Ministry of Magic for their Monday morning meeting with Unspeakable Ree. As they arrived Sirius passed Harry over to Remus and marched them up to the security desk. As was procedure when in war time. All persons were required to check in at security before they can proceed to their offices. As one of the Security witches cleared a wizard who looked like he had been rudely shaken awake and handed a piece of toast before being shoved unceremoniously out the door, Sirius approached the desk and looked to check in with the witch. However, when the witch gave a little gasp before promptly getting up and walking away to their backroom where they deal with suspicious characters, he knew something had happened overnight. The witch returned with several aurors who were permanently assigned to ministry security and didn’t have desks in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.   
As they approached the desk the removed their wands from their Holsters and the auror in front growled at Black; “Mr Black, you are under arrest for treason, by order of the Minister for Magic and the Chief Warlock. Please surrender your wand and place your hands behind your back”  
“WHAT?” came the response from the new family.   
“Your under-arrest Mr Black, please come quietly, it will not help you to attempt to fight the matter.”  
Sirius looked briefly at the aurors that surrounded them and slowly it dawned on him tha none of them had been at the meeting yesterday because they were assigned to security. He unholstered his wand and handed it over. He placed his hands behind his back and said to Remus, “take Harry to the Unspeakables and then get to the DMLE. Inform Moody, Amelia and Crouch they are all up to speed. And then try and find out how Dumbledore knew.”  
“Sirius..”  
“No, Remus, just tell them, I’ll be back before the Unspeakables are done with Harry”  
“Fine, but I am going to the DMLE first”  
“Time to go to your cell, you criminal!”  
Sirius bit back at a retort to that jibe, knowing that responding would get him nowhere and allowed himself to be led away to his cell, confident that he wouldn’t have to stay for more than a few hours.   
Meanwhile in the DMLE, Crouch had the senior aurors in their morning briefing when Remus burst into the department raving like a lunatic. It took Moody and Amelia twenty minutes and three calming potions before they could get a full story out of him. Immediately, Crouch and Moody marched down to organise his release. However, they were quite unprepared for the resistance that they found:  
“Aurors, enough is enough I must demand that you release Black into general ministry custody, there is no reason for him to be in protected custody.” Crouch had demanded.  
Unexpectedly the auror had answered cockily to the man who was, essentially, his boss. “I am afraid that will be quite impossible, we are acting on orders from the minister herself and the chief warlock.”  
“Very well, I shall return for the prisoner shortly, please prepare him,” Crouch intoned, clearly this was a man that was used to getting his way. For one of the first times during his reign over the DMLE, he was about to have his job threatened.  
As he approached the ministers office Crouch had a growing sense of foreboding, when you have run the Department that deals with dark wizards through a war against them, you begin to discover that your instinct is normally right, and so, it was with a heavy heart that he gripped the golden doorknob of the Ministers office and stepped in.  
Minister Millicent Bagnold was sitting behind her desk, immersed in reading a report from the Department of Magical Games and Sports about how the quidditch season was going. She barely looked up from the report as she greeted her seething number two. “Good Morning Barty, have a nice weekend?” she asked as if she hadn’t a care in the world.  
“Minister, I was just wondering why one of my best Aurors, who had been working all weekend, is currently sitting in a holding cell I don’t have access to?”  
“Which auror might this be?” the minister asked in an innocent tone.  
“Black. The auror you had arrested when he arrived this morning.”  
“Ah, yes, let me explain, firstly, Black is no longer here, he had been sent straight to Azkaban.”  
“WHAT?” Crouch shouted.   
“MISTER CROUCH, I suggest that you do not interrupt me again. If you wish to know what has transpired, then sit down and stop talking back to me.” It was at that point that Crouch was reminded exactly why Millicent Bagnold had been chosen to lead the country through the war.   
He sat meekly on the uncomfortable seat on the other side of the desk from the Minister, waiting for her to tell her story.   
“Albus came to me early this morning, telling me that the Potters had missed two check in’s with him, this means that they are somehow incapacitated. Sirius Black was the Potter’s Secret Keeper. Albus says that he had long been suspicious of a traitor in their mix and all of the failed raids that they have done included Black. He even implied that Black might be You-Know-Who’s Right hand man. He has many contacts in the ministry who might try to get him out. Therefore, we have transported him straight to Azkaban so that he can’t be rescued.”  
“Minister.” Crouch started, “Yesterday we called all of the aurors into the Ministry to inform them of the potential end of the war. You were scheduled to be informed in 10 minutes. On Saturday night You-Know-Who arrived at the Potter’s and murdered both James and Lily. Little Harry Potter, a one-year old baby, survived. As far as we know, You-Know-Who did not survive the attack but we are yet to find a body.”  
“Albus mentioned that the dark mark had faded on one of his spies,” the Minister confirmed   
“Good, I am glad to get it from two sources. The first person to the scene was a man called Peter Pettigrew, who apparently was the secret keeper for the Potters. Next, was Sirius Black, who attempted to arrest Pettigrew, but he got away with a dagger and a wand that were hidden within the Robes that were in a heap on the floor. Black was about to pursue him when he heard his Godson cry. Apparently, he turned to see little Harry with blood all down his face. He secured the house and brought Harry to St. Mungo’s. Before he had made it down the street, he met Hagrid. Hagrid told him that Dumbledore had sent him two hours previously to pick up Harry since his parents had been attacked. Sirius and Remus Lupin have been looking after him since.”  
“I don’t understand,” Minister Bagnold breathed, trying to wrap her head around what she had just been told.   
“Millicent, Dumbledore let them die, found out that Sirius knew and then sent him to Azkaban. Someone needs to stop him.”  
“Oh no.”  
“What is it?”  
“Albus put him under his protected custody, No one can get to him without Albus.”   
Many levels below them, in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, an Unspeakable guided a werewolf and a crying baby through the department of mysteries to a white room. The was a table in the middle and a man dressed in white robes standing behind it.   
“You are missing one of your party,” the voice came from beneath the hood of the cloak.  
“Sirius was arrested when he arrived at the ministry. I have already informed the DMLE, I expect he will be in shortly.”  
“Very well, we should continue, this may take several hours.”  
“Of course, work away,” Unspeakable Ree placed Harry on the table and began to cast spells and charms at the young boy.   
As soon as Unspeakable Ree had finished with Harry, Remus had bundled him up and fled back to the DMLE for an update, the Unspeakable said that he would been in touch as soon as he had completed some research.   
When Remus got up to the Auror office he found it in disarray. Crouch had just informed the aurors that Dumbledore had had Sirius arrested that morning and no one else had any access to him. Remus was taken aside by Moody and was told that they had their best people trying to find a loophole in the laws that Dumbledore was using to do this but couldn’t find any.   
For the first time, Moody showed Remus his compassionate side, suggesting that he went to the Longbottom’s with Harry while they try to deal with the fallout of Dumbledore’s scheme.   
When Remus stumbled into Frank and Alice’s house in Cokeworth he was surprised to see that they were looking furious. They had received a letter from Dumbledore explaining that Sirius had betrayed the Potters and that they could come out of Hiding. It wasn’t until he told them that Sirius had been arrested and placed in “Protective Custody” that they were truly enraged.   
Sadly, Remus could only agree to bring Frank with him when he visited the Daily Prophet offices and then back to the DMLE. When they got back to the DMLE, they were accosted by all of Frank’s old colleagues who were over the moon to see him again. Despite, Moody’s incessant questions about which case he wanted to work on, Frank insisted he was only here to escort Remus around and shout at “certain people”. That left them in no uncertain terms exactly what his intentions were for that afternoon.   
They joined the Senior Aurors, Head of the DMLE and Minister for Magic, who decided she wanted to observe how this confrontation would end up, as they apparated to the alley beside the three broomsticks. And marched up to the school, meeting the Prewett twins and other members of the order on their way. They met the Heads of Houses in the Entrance Hall and, with Remus, Moody and McGonagall leading the pack they marched up to the Headmaster’s office.   
“Jolly Rancher,” McGonagall said curtly to the Gargoyle who stood blocking their way.   
They trooped up the stairs and barged into the office without knocking. There were three chairs sitting in front of the desk, Remus, Moody and McGonagall took these seats as the rest of them stood around the office. Dumbledore leant back in his chair and looked at them all with a twinkle in his eye behind his half moon spectacles. Not a single one of his visitors wilted under his stare as they waited for him to begin. Snape even threw him out of his mind when he attempted to look into his mind.   
“Well, what can I do for you today, my friends?”  
“Firstly, let us ensure that you are aware of who you are dealing with,” Moody growled, “I am acting on behalf of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Ministry of Magic, I have the full confidence and authority of both.”  
“I am here on behalf of the Hogwarts’ staff,” McGonagall said.  
“I am here on behalf of all of the members of the Order of the Phoenix that I have contacted so far. Many of whom are in this room, unless, of course, you have decided to arrest them,” Remus growled.   
“Well, you certainly have worked out how to put everyone in the same room,” Dumbledore smiled, “but I still don’t understand why you are here, I thought that we decided it was too risky to gather so many targets together at once, we are, after all, at war are we not?”  
“It depends, Albus, are you going to explain to us what you have decided happened that resulted in an innocent man being in the clutches of thousands of dementors or are you going to wait for us to explain how this man was innocent,” Moody said bluntly, as if trying to explain to a three year old exactly what they had done wrong.   
“Alastor, I am afraid I don’t know what you could possibly mean.”  
“Does the name Sirius Black ring a bell,” Remus asked sarcastically.   
“THAT MAN BETRAYED HIS FRIENDS, THE ORDER AND THE ENTIRE WIZARDING WORLD. HE IS GUILTY OF TREASON. HE DESERVES TO ROT IN AZKABAN.” Dumbledore was now standing up, both fists slammed into the desk, looking much more like the defeater of Grindelwald than any of them had seen them before. Remus however was not going to just sit there and allow anyone to insult the only friend he really had left, the brother who became a grimm for him or his cub’s godfather.   
“HOW DARE YOU! SIRIUS WOULD NEVER!” Remus felt a tug on the sleeve of his robe and he realized that he had stood up and knocked over his chair. Slowly Moody tugged him back into his seat while McGonagall addressed her boss.   
“Albus, I think this would be greatly sped up if you were to explain the evidence that you have for keeping Sirius in a holding cell.”   
“Professor, Black isn’t in a holding cell,” Mister Crouch informed her, “He was transferred to Azkaban before anyone other than Albus could talk to him. As he was placed there by the Chief Warlock no one else is able to contact him or even know what cell he is in.”  
This stunned all of those who didn’t already know this into silence. McGonagall was staring at the Headmaster in disbelief, apparently unaware that he was able to do such a thing. It’s not every day that you discover that your boss is allowed to legally throw you in prison if you don’t cooperate with his plans.   
“Well,” Dumbledore started, trying to make it sound like he had thought it all through before acting, “I suppose that it all started when I went to James and Lily’s house when they first went into hiding and cast the Fidelius Charm, Black was the Secret Keeper. We also set up a system so that, every evening, either James or Lily would check in with me so that we knew that they hadn’t been attacked. Two days ago, I received intelligence that there had been an attack mounted on the Potter Residence. I sent Hagrid to go and take stock of the damage and bring any survivors to Hogwarts. He returned and said that he had met Black who had refused to give him the secret and assured him everyone was alive and save.”  
“By last night I had decided that if I didn’t receive a check in from them, I would alert the ministry of the need to arrest Black when he arrived for work this morning. I then had him transferred straight to Azkaban for fear that he would be broken out of a Ministry Cell and placed him under the greatest restraints I could. I was also informed today that the dark mark has faded almost completely, it is but a shadow of what it used to be. I believe that we have practically reached the end of this war. We must now clean up and restart our lives.”   
Dumbledore leant back, his story complete, convinced that he would have stunned the room out of speech. To his great surprise not one of them were shocked. A few of them even shared amused glances. The trio that was sitting in front of the desk even let out a small chuckle as they noticed the confusion that the elderly wizard was struggling to hide.   
Eventually, Moody murmured to the other two; “will I take him out of his misery?” and after confirmation he began his tale: “I received a call early yesterday morning which brought me into the DMLE, once there I was debriefed by Sirius on the previous evening’s events we made him swear a magical oath that everything he said was true. I am afraid that some of what was said will have to remain classified for the purposes of further investigation but it would appear that he was not the secret keeper, just a Decoy. I do not know how you could have cast the Fidelius on with him. Perhaps they re-cast it? Either way, he was feeling paranoid, so he went to check on Pettigrew, their secret Keeper, when he found Pettigrew’s hideout empty with no sign of a struggle, he immediately rushed to the Potters’ unfortunately it was too late.”  
“He chased Pettigrew off and then collected his Godson before casting a new Fidelius so You-Know-Who’s other followers couldn’t attempt to get access the property. He got in contact with Remus here and brought Harry to St. Mungo’s. He met Hagrid on his way out and I believe there was quite an interesting conversation that followed, but that is up to Sirius to tell you about later, once you release him though. Since then, Sirius and Remus have contacted as many people that have joined the fight as they could and informed them. Each one was sworn to Secrecy as well as confirming, by way of magical oath that they have not, do not, and will not support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named either in his beliefs or actions. The Daily Prophet is currently working to publish an Evening Edition to share the news of the Dark Lord’s Demise. Might I suggest you release Sirius so that they don’t lead with ‘Chief Warlock Jails Messenger of Dark Lord’s Demise’”   
“How do I know you are telling the truth?” challenged Dumbledore.   
“I Alastor Moody to solemnly swear on my life and my magic that everything I have relayed to Albus Dumbledore in this meeting has been truthful,” A flash of white light briefly encircled Moody before it disappeared, proving that he had been telling the truth.   
Dumbledore finally looked defeated, so surprised that his actions of not so long ago had been thrown back at him so fast. As he processed the news he slowly realised exactly what he had been told. He raised his eyes to Remus, looking over his half-moon spectacles. “Lily, James and Peter all lost in one day, and I arrest the one you had left. Remus, I am so sorry. I had no idea.”  
Remus was stunned but was quick to retort, he was a marauder after all, and this was far to serious for his liking, “Well, I suppose it proves he was a good decoy. If it meant he was arrested for it. We can only be glad that he decided to take Harry and come to me. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Hagrid had taken Harry.”  
McGonagall had tears in her eyes as she realised the full consequences of the meeting here today. “Now, could we get Sirius here so that we can sort out exactly what else needs to be done, he seemed to have a plan when I spoke to him this morning.”  
*****  
When Crouch, Dumbledore and Sirius returned to Hogwarts a few moments later it was to their great astonishment that the first person he greeted after Remus, and ensuring Harry was alright, was Snape. While there was a lack of animosity between the two, there were some terse words shared, there was an invitation for drinks at some point so they could bury the hatchet from their school days. Luckily Dumbledore was back at his fireplace speaking with the Daily Prophet trying to stop them from printing the story.   
As they sat and explained to him the plan for Aurors to be available in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley when the news broke as well as the Order Meeting immediately afterwards and the Auror meeting late tonight. Sirius told him in no uncertain terms that he would be running the Order meeting tonight as it was more his story to tell than anyone else’s.   
Eventually the Aurors returned to the Ministry, the teachers to teaching and Remus and Sirius took the Prewitt twins to help the Longbottom’s pack up their house. They had decided to move back to Longbottom Manor after the Order Meeting while Remus took care of Harry and Neville.   
*****  
As the Owls flooded out from the Daily Prophet Offices to all four corners of the country, celebrations could be heard as they spread from Diagon Alley.   
In a house with many red-haired children the news was taken with a sigh of relief as the eldest, Bill read aloud to his mother while she fed their young daughter.   
In Grimmauld Place Wallburga and Orion Black were far from delighted that their estranged son had made it onto the front page of the Daily Prophet for fighting for the beliefs that were against everything that they had tried to instil in him.   
In a castle in Scotland all the Students were gathered in the Great Hall as Dumbledore explained to them that classes were cancelled the next day in celebration of the end of the conflicts.   
In a private room in the Hog’s Head the members of the Order of the Phoenix were shocked to hear that this was why the meeting was called. They were even more shocked when Sirius began to tell them the story. It was, therefore, unsurprising when several of the older members of the Order promptly fainted when they heard that Dumbledore had known about the attack two hours before it had taken place and he hadn’t stopped two of their best fighters from dying.   
However, surprising everyone, Sirius was adamant that getting mad at Dumbledore could wait, today, they had two fallen comrades to mourn. They all sat around nursing butterbeers and firewhiskey until the Moody called the aurors and told them they needed to report to the ministry for another full DMLE meeting.   
*****  
Once again Sirius found himself sitting in the large DMLE meeting room that was rarely used, watching as the aurors filed in and began to sit down. They almost always sat with their partner and their battle squad. Each squad was a group of 8 aurors in 4 pairs and a commanding senior auror. The senior auror also had a trainee that they brought with them. There were 4 squads of aurors.   
Crouch was beginning to discuss the days events, calling on the aurors who had been leading the visibility patrols, when his assistant came rushing in and whispered something in his ear. He stood up and shouted:   
“SENIOR AURORS ON ME! SQUADS FORM UP! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!”

A/N: Oooh, a battle, I wonder where???   
Thanks for reading. See you next week, I hope, unless the next chapter is as tricky as this one was.


End file.
